Category: Politics, Policy & Protest.

During the inaugural Health Workforce Equity Summit, Leana Wen said that it is a critical time to be part of the reproductive health workforce.

More than 300 bills seeking to restrict access to abortion care have been filed in 47 states in 2019, putting reproductive healthcare in crisis, Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Wednesday.

Dr. Wen, who is also an adjunct associate professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine, said Planned Parenthood declared a state of emergency for women’s health on May 30 in response to controversial laws that ban abortion in Georgia and Alabama. The laws criminalize doctors who provide abortions, she said, and is part of a larger effort to challenge Roe v. Wade in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dr. Wen delivered the keynote address at the inaugural Health Workforce Equity Summit, sponsored by the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at GW’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.  The theme for this year’s summit was “Reproductive Health in Crisis: What Workforce Strategies are Needed?” and sought to address workforce pipeline and distribution issues as well as challenges with recruitment and retention in the reproductive healthcare sector.

Challenges to abortion access have been especially restrictive in Missouri, Dr. Wen added. The Planned Parenthood center there is the only abortion care provider remaining in the state. The state imposed a series of barriers to access, such as a 72-hour waiting period between a consultation and the procedure, she said, and “trap” regulations that forced the center to meet the standards of surgical centers even though abortion is an outpatient procedure.

She added that the state took “intimidation of physicians to a whole new level” by trying to require for the center’s license renewal that center doctors and trainees to be subject to interrogation that could result in the loss of medical licenses. A state court protected abortion access for the center, she said, but the legal battle is ongoing in Missouri as it is in states across the country.

“We are here, proudly, defiantly, because we need to be, because our patients depend on us,” Dr. Wen said.

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Christine Lagarde shared her thoughts on the world’s momentum for economic development during a George Talks Business event.

Despite decreasing its global economic growth forecast from 3.6 percent to 3.3. percent, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is not worried about the global economy.

Christine Lagarde, the fund’s managing director, said during a George Talks Business event on Thursday that even though the momentum for global economic growth has slowed more than expected, the second half of 2019 is expected to be better than the first half, and there is no recession.

There are still geopolitical risks to growth, she added, such as the result of the Brexit decisions. The fund also is concerned about trade tensions between the United States and China and the effect those tensions are having on global economic growth, and trade has historically been a source of global economic growth.

“We are still worried about tensions on trade because if you combine all the tariff increases, all the threats, all the not-yet-ratified or in-the-making agreements, we still have a lot of uncertainty on the trade front,” Ms. Lagarde said.

“It’s critically important that trade tensions be eliminated rather than resulting to tariff increases and threats,” she continued, “and that there will be a clear understanding of where and how trade is going to develop in the future and continue to fuel growth.”

Ms. Lagarde also said the IMF anticipates that the trade tension would be resolved.

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Kristalina Georgieva shared her perspectives on the progress of the world’s economic development during a George Talks Business event.

There is a lot to celebrate in worldwide poverty eradication, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva said during a George Talks Business event on Monday, but there is still a long way to go.

In 1990, 36 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty, Dr. Georgieva said, and 2018 estimates show the world poverty level at just over 8 percent.

“Well more than 1.1 billion people have pulled themselves out of poverty, and I am proud to be part of this journey.” Dr. Georgieva said. “If you happen to be one of the nearly 700 million people that still live in extreme poverty today, this success means nothing to you.”

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During the keynote address for the 50th annual Black Heritage Celebration, Dr. Dyson explained why everyone should root for black people’s success.

Michael Eric Dyson, author and sociology professor at Georgetown University, used his keynote address at the George Washington University Black Heritage Celebration to tackle this year’s theme: “I’m Rooting for Everybody Black.”

The theme comes from a viral video of Issa Rae, actress and creator of HBO’s Insecure, who said during a red-carpet interview at the Emmys in 2017 that she was rooting for everybody black to take home awards that night.

Dr. Dyson took this idea a step further. As he explained during this keynote address, the reason we are rooting for black people is because “America has excluded the participation of black people in so many arenas.

“The reason we’ve got to root for people by color at all is because America has denied opportunity systemically and systematically to so many peoples, including peoples of color, but especially black people,” Dr. Dyson said.

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The Third Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture tackled overcoming racist ideas and building an anti-racist America.

The first step to being an antiracist is confession and recognition of racist ideas you may have, American University History Professor Ibram X. Kendi said Wednesday at the Third Annual School of Medicine and Health Sciences Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture.

Dr. Kendi said that the next step to being an antiracist is clearly defining and understanding the contrast between racism and antiracism in policies and people.

This can be learned by looking at the totality of Dr. King’s life. In doing this, Dr. Kendi said, it is also necessary to reject the “widely ahistorical” analogy of how far we have come, and how far we have to go, to reach Dr. King’s dream.

Rather, he said, there has been a dual progression of racial progress and racism—antiracism breaking down barriers, and racism rebuilding new and more sophisticated barriers to exclude and exploit people.

“While hailing racial progress over the last five decades, Americans have largely ignored racist progress,” Dr. Kendi said. “If King’s well-known dream symbolizes the glorious and true march of racial progress over the last five decades, the unknown nightmare symbolized the inglorious march of racist progress over the last five decades”

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While discussing her newly released books at GW, the senator from California emphasized her “no false choices” mantra.

There are no false choices for Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and, as she explained, there are no reasons to be bound by societal limitations.

These are lessons she learned as a child, and she shared these during a Wednesday night discussion co-sponsored by George Washington University and Politics and Prose for her newly-released books, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,” and children’s book, “Superheroes Are Everywhere.”

The audience in a packed Lisner Auditorium roared when the senator from Oakland, Calif., appeared on stage, dancing along to 2Pac’s “California Love.”  The conversation was moderated by The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart. Ms. Harris dodged questions about a potential 2020 presidential run, noting that she will make a decision soon. Instead, she focused on her upbringing and how that framed her political stances.

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The senator from Vermont talked about his new book and what the Democratic Party must do to advance a progressive agenda.

Even though his 2016 run for the Democratic presidential nomination ended in a loss to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the campaign Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) launched what he calls a political revolution.

According to Mr. Sanders, the issues brought to the forefront of political debates—such as free public college, Medicare for all, $15 federal minimum wage, affordable housing, immigration reform, criminal justice reform and gun safety legislation— were the same causes he fought for when he campaigned and continues to fight for today.      

Lisner Auditorium was packed on Tuesday night for the discussion. The event, co-sponsored by George Washington University and Politics and Prose, signified the official release of Mr. Sanders’ book, “Where We Go from Here: Two Years in the Resistance.”

The book picks up immediately after the 2016 primary election when he met with Ms. Clinton to discuss next steps. Then, they devised a plan to bring their campaigns together and developed “the most progressive platform in the history of American politics,” he said, which they hoped would bring people together and help her win the election.

On election night, he said, he thought it was likely she would win but wouldn’t have been surprised if Donald Trump won. Mr. Sanders followed his normal election-night routine: watching election returns at his Vermont home with family and friends. He would speak to people and the media after election results came in, but on that night, he said, he was too depressed to leave the house.

“It was clear to me, if not all my supporters, that on her worst day, she would have been a much better president than Trump,” Mr. Sanders said of Ms. Clinton.

“I was asking, I think, the question that millions of Americans were asking,” he added. “How could Secretary Clinton have lost to a man who was a pathological liar, who was a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, a homophobe and a religious bigot?”

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